My series review

[Delenn_of_Mir]

I finally finished Jeremiah the series, and am feeling relieved that itÆs finally over. I blitzed through it all in two and a half days, which in hindsight was probably not the wisest way to watch, but that is what I tend to do. I found myself disappointed a lot, and am left feeling as if the story could have unfolded a lot differently, an obvious conclusion because any story that has been told could have been told differently.

All that an author can do is choose a path and tell the best story they can, and so if I were to simply judge the path this story took and to ignore all of the byways and alternate paths my mind kept seeing then I would have no real complaints with this story. JMS is a master, after all. I was also pleasantly surprised by Sara (Samm) BarnesÆ work, as well as by Sam EganÆs. Though I did not personally love every single episode, my ratings ranged from the lowest 4 up to the highest 11.

The things I liked about it:

I liked that the series did have a reasonable conclusion. More could have been done with it, but it didnÆt just stop in the middle.

I liked the idea of a mysterious plague wiping out all the adults in the world, and I like the idea of kids having to raise themselves, and I like the idea of exploring what such a world in this position would look like.

I liked a lot of the characters, esp the ones who were only in one episode and then died. Of the ones who were main cast and who stuck around to the end I liked Kurdy, Markus, and Mister Smith the best.

I liked the humour. I loved the excellent quotable dialogue.

I liked the theme of moving on from the past and living for the moment, because the moment is all we have.

I liked the second season theme song.

I liked that a lot of the episodes had kids in them, and that a lot of these kids even had names and lines.

I loved the library episode with the librarian who couldnÆt read, and the fight to save the few remaining books in the world.

I liked that in almost every single episode I found inspiration for my own stories.

I did like what they did with Theo. She didnÆt get nearly enough screen time, but the time she was in the spotlight she truly shined and at least we got to see a little bit of character growth with her in her final episode.


What I disliked:
I disliked that, especially in season one, we kept getting introduced to characters that I would think were great and then they would either die or sail away, or would never be mentioned again. I think that the theme for season one was simply exploring the post acopolyptic world, and also for Jeremiah and Kurdy to slowly realize the coming threat and for them to build up to being the warriors they were in season two, so all of these episodes were necessary and served a purpose, as well as being reasonably entertaining and exciting.

But as much as I liked Jeremiah and Kurdy I wanted a strong female lead that I could identify with and root for, and the closest thing we really got to that was Erin, and she annoyed me, and so every time I would meet a new female character that I liked I would get excited, and then sheÆd die, or sail away, or never be mentioned again. And it was very disappointing.

I also strongly disliked that they never did anything with Michelle, who was a strong and interesting female character, who could have been integral to the plot, especially concerning her connection to Jeremiah. I was extremely disappointed that they did nothing with her.

Libby. I loved her. She was beautiful. She was lovely. She was in the opening credits. She was perfect. Hate, hate, hate what they did to her character. At the very least they could have given her a backstory episode to explain how and why she chose that path. And if Lee had a chance at redemption then why not her?

Other than complaints about no Delenn the series was pretty great though.

My episode ratings: Season One
The Long Road Pt1 and 2 û 10
Man of Iron, Woman under Glass - 11
And the Ground, sown with salt û 11
To Sail Beyond the Stars û 10
The Bag û 9
City of Roses û 7
Firewall û 8
The Red Kiss û 9
JourneyÆs End û 9
Thieves Honor û 8
The Touch û 9
Mother of Invention û 10
Tripwire û 8
Ring of truth - 6
Moon in Gemini û 5 ¢
Out of the Ashes û 10
A Means to an End û 10
Things left Unsaid P1 and 2 û 9 ¢
Season Two
Letters from the other side Pt1 and 2 û 10
Strange Attractions û 10
Deus Ex Machina û 10
Rites of Passage û 11
The Mysterious Mr. Smith û 10
Voices in the Dark - 10
Crossing Jordan û 5
Running on Empty û 7
The Question û 4
The Past is Prologue û 5
The Face in the Mirror û 6
The State of the Union û 6
The Interregnum Pt 1 and 2 - 8

Favorite Quotes:
All GodÆs Children want a piece of flesh
A world without miracles isnÆt a world worth saving.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I know theyÆre gonna break yours.
Kurdy: YouÆre gonna be calm, right?
Jeremiah: CalmÆs my middle name.
Kurdy: Yeah too bad your last nameÆs æ before the stormÆ.
And my absolute favorite and new signature: IÆm gonna quit looking back û cause the moments are all we have.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

And there we have a great example of how perspectives differ from one human being to another, as my ratings, if I went back and assessed, them would be almost the opposite of yours. I found season 2 on the whole to be stronger than season 1, and the last half dozen (which are your lowest rated) would be among my highest rated.

And I found the Sam Egan episodes mostly forgettable.

[Jan]

I finally finished Jeremiah the series, and am feeling relieved that itÆs finally over. I blitzed through it all in two and a half days, which in hindsight was probably not the wisest way to watch, but that is what I tend to do. I found myself disappointed a lot, and am left feeling as if the story could have unfolded a lot differently, an obvious conclusion because any story that has been told could have been told differently.

Definitely not the way I'd want to experience it. I tend to do that with books by my favorite authors when they first come out and enevitably have to go back and savor it.

All that an author can do is choose a path and tell the best story they can, and so if I were to simply judge the path this story took and to ignore all of the byways and alternate paths my mind kept seeing then I would have no real complaints with this story. JMS is a master, after all. I was also pleasantly surprised by Sara (Samm) BarnesÆ work, as well as by Sam EganÆs. Though I did not personally love every single episode, my ratings ranged from the lowest 4 up to the highest 11.

Except for the library one, I mostly didn't care for the Egan episodes at all. Things just seemed a little too forced and obvious in most of them for me.

The things I liked about it:

I liked that the series did have a reasonable conclusion. More could have been done with it, but it didnÆt just stop in the middle.

I liked the idea of a mysterious plague wiping out all the adults in the world, and I like the idea of kids having to raise themselves, and I like the idea of exploring what such a world in this position would look like.

It may sound odd but one thing I liked the most was that everybody you met in the show was seriously messed up by what had happened to them, both when the plague happened and from scratching for survival afterward. Sometimes when I wasn't overjoyed by something a character did I could go back and look at them more closely the next time I watched and understand better.

I liked a lot of the characters, esp the ones who were only in one episode and then died. Of the ones who were main cast and who stuck around to the end I liked Kurdy, Markus, and Mister Smith the best.

Definitely agree. Never really warmed up to Jeremiah much. Mister Smith was one of the most interesting characters I've ever encountered.

I liked the humour. I loved the excellent quotable dialogue.

Strongly agree. One major fave was Kurdy's 'fuckosity' speach in the pilot.

I liked the second season theme song.

I liked them both but I've got a strong preference for the first. I hope that JMS will always change the openings each season for any shows he does in the past.

I did like what they did with Theo. She didnÆt get nearly enough screen time, but the time she was in the spotlight she truly shined and at least we got to see a little bit of character growth with her in her final episode.

And she got that classic 'Theo meets indoor plumbing' scene. Loved, loved, loved that one!

What I disliked:
I disliked that, especially in season one, we kept getting introduced to characters that I would think were great and then they would either die or sail away, or would never be mentioned again. I think that the theme for season one was simply exploring the post acopolyptic world, and also for Jeremiah and Kurdy to slowly realize the coming threat and for them to build up to being the warriors they were in season two, so all of these episodes were necessary and served a purpose, as well as being reasonably entertaining and exciting.

I was glad that they dropped the whole 'plague is coming back' thing after the first season. I'm certain that knowing how utterly fractured things were in the country would have been important down the road if the show had continued.

But as much as I liked Jeremiah and Kurdy I wanted a strong female lead that I could identify with and root for, and the closest thing we really got to that was Erin, and she annoyed me, and so every time I would meet a new female character that I liked I would get excited, and then sheÆd die, or sail away, or never be mentioned again. And it was very disappointing.

Out of curiosity, what was it that annoyed you about Erin? While she wasn't my favorite, I liked her quiet competence and the fact that she was ready to do what was best for the Thunder Mountain community against Markus if she thought it was necessary, regardless of any feelings she had for him.

I also strongly disliked that they never did anything with Michelle, who was a strong and interesting female character, who could have been integral to the plot, especially concerning her connection to Jeremiah. I was extremely disappointed that they did nothing with her.

I'm coming up blank here. Somebody remind me who Michelle was? The art collector, maybe?

Libby. I loved her. She was beautiful. She was lovely. She was in the opening credits. She was perfect. Hate, hate, hate what they did to her character. At the very least they could have given her a backstory episode to explain how and why she chose that path. And if Lee had a chance at redemption then why not her?

I thought they gave her a fair amount of backstory but at first glance what she said might seem like throwaway lines. She admitted to being pretty screwed up when she first met Jeremiah when she talked about stealing things and setting fires. She wouldn't talk about what she had to do to survive but it seemed pretty obvious to me that none of it was pleasant or safe. And finally, she was very much about being safe. With all of that, it didn't surprise me at all that she'd end up with somebody like Sims who I think she would have met on the outside and stuck close to because he was the strongest one around and he'd protect her.

I'd be interested to know what you think of some of the baddies like Sims and Quantrell and even the President.

And there we have a great example of how perspectives differ from one human being to another, as my ratings, if I went back and assessed, them would be almost the opposite of yours. I found season 2 on the whole to be stronger than season 1, and the last half dozen (which are your lowest rated) would be among my highest rated.

And I found the Sam Egan episodes mostly forgettable.

I agree that I found the second season far stronger in general but then, it also had more of an obvious direction to it instead of the 'running around looking for father and chasing plague clues' aspect to it.

I would dearly love to see a set of script books for this series but I don't think it's likely at all. But I'd sure love a glimpse at the thought processes behnd the episodes and characters.

Thanks for sharing.

Jan

[Delenn_of_Mir]

Definitely not the way I'd want to experience it. I tend to do that with books by my favorite authors when they first come out and enevitably have to go back and savor it.

Except for the library one, I mostly didn't care for the Egan episodes at all. Things just seemed a little too forced and obvious in most of them for me.

It may sound odd but one thing I liked the most was that everybody you met in the show was seriously messed up by what had happened to them, both when the plague happened and from scratching for survival afterward. Sometimes when I wasn't overjoyed by something a character did I could go back and look at them more closely the next time I watched and understand better.

Definitely agree. Never really warmed up to Jeremiah much. Mister Smith was one of the most interesting characters I've ever encountered.

Strongly agree. One major fave was Kurdy's 'fuckosity' speach in the pilot.

I liked them both but I've got a strong preference for the first. I hope that JMS will always change the openings each season for any shows he does in the past.


And she got that classic 'Theo meets indoor plumbing' scene. Loved, loved, loved that one!

I was glad that they dropped the whole 'plague is coming back' thing after the first season. I'm certain that knowing how utterly fractured things were in the country would have been important down the road if the show had continued.

Out of curiosity, what was it that annoyed you about Erin? While she wasn't my favorite, I liked her quiet competence and the fact that she was ready to do what was best for the Thunder Mountain community against Markus if she thought it was necessary, regardless of any feelings she had for him.

I'm coming up blank here. Somebody remind me who Michelle was? The art collector, maybe?

I thought they gave her a fair amount of backstory but at first glance what she said might seem like throwaway lines. She admitted to being pretty screwed up when she first met Jeremiah when she talked about stealing things and setting fires. She wouldn't talk about what she had to do to survive but it seemed pretty obvious to me that none of it was pleasant or safe. And finally, she was very much about being safe. With all of that, it didn't surprise me at all that she'd end up with somebody like Sims who I think she would have met on the outside and stuck close to because he was the strongest one around and he'd protect her.

I'd be interested to know what you think of some of the baddies like Sims and Quantrell and even the President.

I agree that I found the second season far stronger in general but then, it also had more of an obvious direction to it instead of the 'running around looking for father and chasing plague clues' aspect to it.

I would dearly love to see a set of script books for this series but I don't think it's likely at all. But I'd sure love a glimpse at the thought processes behnd the episodes and characters.

Thanks for sharing.

Jan

I have watched very few shows as they actually aired week by week, and have only been able to experience a few shows from the very beginning. Generally I don't discover them until they are out on DVD.

V was the first show I really got to begin with. I thought it was interesting that Scott Rosenberg was involved in Jeremiah, when he was the guy who took over and ruined V.

Yeah, I would agree that some of the speeches were a little forced sometimes, but I still enjoyed the overall themes of most of them.

When I was watching I got a feeling of a world ruled by children in adult bodies. It just felt like none of them had every really had a chance to grow up and they were all still thinking and reacting like children scrambling to survive. It was very realistic, I though.

The only time I really liked Jeremiah was when he was with Libby.

fuckosity is a great word!!!!!!


The very first time we meet Erin she is whining to Markus about how he doesn't trust her, then following him, and almost gets Meghan killed. I think if this would have come later on after I'd gotten to know Erin as the quiet, competent professional then I would have been on her side maybe a little, but having it be my first introduction to her she just came across to me as whiny and annoying, and even after she calmed down and did some cool things later on I was just never able to be rid of my first impression of her.

Possibly she may grow on me over time though.

Yes, Michelle was the art collector who had Jeremiah's son. She was the leader of the group that helped supply a lot of towns, and she went by the pseudonym of David. She was the first one to hide under a fake leader.

How quickly did most of you realize that Daniel wasn't real? My first impression was that he was Simms, and then during Hannah's episode when Jeremiah and Kurdy actually go into Daniel's territory and they showed Daniel's image on the screen I knew for sure that he didn't exist. But I think JMS wanted us to figure it out pretty quickly since it was broadcast pretty loud and clear that no one had ever met him before. It was an interesting long con.


I did briefly think she was probably the traitor in an earlier episode when they mentioned having one, but I just loved her character so much that I forgot to be cynical and just let her sweep me along for the ride.

Libby was a character that I would have loved evil or not. I was just mad that she was dead. They could have done a lot of interesting things with her still alive and being a traitor, although she was so good at the sweet act that I believed her and wanted to believe in her.

The rest of season 2 died for me once she died, which was why I rated it so low.

With Elizabeth the moment I met her I knew she was going to die since Kurdy broke the cardinal rule of television by falling in love. That only earns the person you love a death sentence as far as writers like JMS and Joss Whedon are concerned.

After Libby died I kept feeling like I was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it was Tara,all over again. Though Tara was good, she only died so that Willow could go all evil and dark magicky. And I felt that Libby only died so that Jeremiah could get even angrier than before and want to go off on a revenge kick to kill Sims.

You should have seen me at the end of "Sleeping in Light" first time through. I hated that episode and was so depressed because Delenn was all alone now and I was feeling her grief probably more than the character herself. LOL I had to go back through and rewatch the entire series over again before I could shake off the depression I felt.

But of course with Jeremiah I never got the feeling that I got with Babylon 5, and Libby only got 8 episodes, and it will probably be a very long time before I have any inclination to watch this show again.

Sims accent was annoying, but he was also very scary, and sinister, and had a strong presence. He genuinely enjoyed doing what he was doing, and was good at it. With some bad guys I love them even though they do evil things, but then with some like Sims, I just hate them for the bad things they do. But it was more of an appropriate hate cause the character was evil and I don't think we were supposed to like him.

Quantrell was an arrogant SOB and I was happy to see him meet his fate. The president I thought was very realistic. He acted exactly like I would expect a president to act.

Can't say I saw anything in either of these characters to give me any reason to care about them, so I just watched and cheered when they died.

Maybe it was because the series was so short, but I really felt there was strong lack of characterization, and for me all of the bad guys just seemed like bad guys. There was no depth to them beyond I'm a bad guy and I'm here to provide opposition to the good guys.

But then again I may not have been paying close enough attention?

When I do go back and rewatch I'm sure I will come away feeling more positive because I will know what to expect, and what happens and what doesn't happen. If I rewatch. I spent most of the time watching just waiting to see who was going to die. I felt completely paranoid that every character was going to buy it. Jeremiah and Kurdy were the only ones I felt were truly safe. In the end there was actually less dying that I expected. But I don't know. Jeremiah just felt so different from B5, and I didn't have any trust that anything good was going to happen.

I did at first with the pilot, but then after Julie died I lost trust and began to just sit there biding my time, not wanting to care, just waiting to see who would die next. When a character is introduced and then they're gone, it just feels to me like there is no point in investing, and Jeremiah and Kurdy were not enough for me. And then with Libby, I let my guard down, trusted, forgot to be cynical, and got majorly burned. Kinda like Jeremiah, except I still didn't like him even though I could understand his pain.